


Blame Rise

by KawaiiBoushi



Category: Persona 4
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 00:36:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12995973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KawaiiBoushi/pseuds/KawaiiBoushi
Summary: Rise takes Kanji and Naoto out to karaoke. They both enjoy it much more than they expected.





	Blame Rise

If they were asked, neither Kanji nor Naoto would have imagined themselves patronizing one of the biggest, gaudiest karaoke bars in Japan, but one should never underestimate the persuasive power of an idol.

They were lured in after Naoto wrapped up a case in Tokyo, during the week or so of downtime they had decided to take to enjoy the city. Kanji had never been before and was eager to check out the fashion hot spots (though quick to turn his nose up at the stores crammed with cheap, low-quality clothes), and Naoto, having traveled there a handful of times, was happy to play tour guide.

When Rise got wind of this, and realized their trip overlapped with one of her shows in the area, she eagerly wrangled them a pair of VIP tickets and insisted they tag along afterwards for karaoke with her gaggle of backup dancers and crew members. Somewhere amidst the pleases and it’ll-be-funs and you-two-are- _so_ -borings they were bombarded with after the concert, they had given in to the latter offer as well, seeing as how they had no other plans for the night and it could be entertaining to watch, at least.

“Whenever I’m in Tokyo, we _always_ go to this place for karaoke, it’s like, a tradition,” Rise explained excitedly as they cruised along in one of the limos that had been rented for those involved with the tour. “I did a shoot there once, a promotional thing, you know, Risette’s favorite karaoke bar, whatever, and I name-drop them whenever I go, so they always hook us up with the best room and a bunch of free drinks and snacks and stuff. It’s so great, way better than that dinky little place in Okina. Hey, is my wig on right?”

Kanji rolled his eyes and straightened out the curly blonde wig Rise had donned after her concert so she could escape without getting attention from stragglers or paparazzi. “These big flashy cars ain’t exactly subtle, y’know. I dunno who you think you’re foolin’.”

Rise waved him off. “Naoto-kun’s rubbing off on you, Kanji. You stick-in-the-muds.”

“ _Sticks_ -in-the- _mud_ ,” Naoto interjected, earning a pink fingernail pointed in her face.

“See? _See?_ Who _does_ that?” Rise dramatically splayed the palm of her other hand against her forehead. “This is why you need me to show you how to actually have fun. I bet you were just gonna do something totally lame like go to a museum and then turn in early and get a responsible eight hours of sleep tonight before I came along.”

Naoto crossed her arms and scowled. “Museums are fascinating, Rise-san.”

“We did that yesterday,” Kanji added, trying not to laugh. Even though he had to admit that science and history could be kind of cool when you weren’t being tested on anything, Naoto had definitely gotten more out of the exhibits than he had.

“Case in point,” Rise said with a decisive nod. “You’ll have plenty of time for museums when you’re old and boring. You’re in Tokyo of all places, loosen up and live a little!”

With a practiced sigh of long-suffering (the detective could be just as melodramatic as the idol when she wanted to), Naoto said, “Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?”

“Not yet,” Rise shot back with a mischievous smirk. “I won’t be happy until I get at least one of you to sing tonight.”

“You’ll be spending the night in a bad mood then. I agreed to join you, but I have no intention of making a fool of myself in front of all these people.”

Rise only shrugged lightly as the limo pulled to a stop in front of a tall, brightly lit building. “We’ll see about that.” She hopped out of the car, wig slipping again as she skipped towards the bar.

“Ri–” Kanji started, then cut himself off before shouting her name for the whole street to hear. “Eh, whatever. She can fix it herself.” With a shrug, he followed Rise inside, fingers brushing against the back of Naoto’s hand as she caught up with him.

Despite the size of the group – it had to be three or four dozen people altogether – it didn’t take long to get set up; the staff was likely used to this, as Rise had said. Their room was incredibly spacious, more closely resembling an actual bar than a karaoke booth. Numerous tables, couches, and chairs were spread throughout the area, there was a small stage in the corner for people to sing on, and a panel of light switches allowed the mood to be set to whatever one wished for their performance. It did, indeed, put Okina’s humble booths to shame.

Rise dragged Kanji and Naoto to a table in the back of the room and handed them a menu that was already waiting on the table. “Order whatever you want when the waitress comes around,” she encouraged. “We bring them so much business they practically throw free stuff at us.”

Perhaps it was something about the atmosphere, but while neither Kanji nor Naoto were necessarily big on drinking, both decided to indulge a little when the time came to place their refreshment orders. Everything was on the house, after all, and maybe Rise’s advice of loosening up couldn’t hurt here and there. “When in Rome,” Naoto conceded before ordering a Long Island iced tea, while Kanji picked out something fruity he had never heard of but thought looked damn cute at least.

“Wow, really, Naoto-kun?” Rise commented when the drinks were brought out. “I’m impressed.”

Naoto raised an eyebrow. “It’s not uncommon in European cultures to have a glass of wine with dinner. We would sometimes integrate the custom into our meals when I was growing up, thanks to my mother’s ancestry, so I’m not necessarily unaccustomed to alcohol.” With a sip of her drink, she shrugged one shoulder. “All things in moderation.”

Rise nodded, her expression one of mild amusement. “Uh-huh. Whatever you say. What about you, Kanji? What’d you get?”

“I dunno,” Kanji said, fiddling with the pink umbrella in his glass. “Just looked good, so…”

“Nothing wrong with that.” Nodding her approval, Rise raised her own drink, the other two meeting her in the middle with a soft _clink_. “Bottoms up!”

As the night wore on, their deceptively tasty drinks tempted both Kanji and Naoto into ordering more. While Kanji appeared outwardly unaffected at first save a flush to his cheeks, Naoto was beginning to find it difficult to pronounce all the big words she loved so much even as her attempted usage of them increased. About halfway into his third drink, while Naoto was busy trying to explain how electricity worked to a befuddled lighting technician, Kanji picked up the hefty songbook and started leafing through it. Initially, he was simply curious as to what kind of music they offered, but before he knew it, found himself with a song in mind and the remote in hand, trying to figure out how to turn it on.

“Oi, Rise,” Kanji mumbled, nudging her with his elbow. “How’s this thing work?”

Rise looked over from her conversation with one of the dancers, and when she saw what he was referring to, her face lit up. “Kanji! Are you gonna sing?”

Mid-sentence, Naoto swiveled around to regard Kanji with surprise. “You’re going to sing?”

“Maybe if I could figure out how to use this damn thing,” Kanji replied, hitting buttons on the device at random, to no avail.

With a giggle, Rise took it from his hands and scooted closer. “Here, which song do you want?”

“Um, the book said it was…uh, number 7811.” He peered over her shoulder as she navigated the menu to the correct song and put it into the queue.

“You’ll be up in about ten minutes or so, there’s a few people ahead of you already.” Smirking in Naoto’s direction, Rise crossed her arms and gave a triumphant laugh. “One down, one to go.”

Naoto shook her head so vehemently her whole body moved with it. “Ab–absolutely not.”

“Come ooooon,” Rise whined, “you danced at the LMB Festival in front of, like, a bazillion people, but you won’t sing one little song here with practically nobody around?”

“That was different. I wasn’t the center of attention there.”

Face furrowed in a pout, Rise gave an exasperated huff. “Party pooper. Kanji’s being way cooler than you right now, you know.”

 “Yes, I’m surprised you decided to sing, Kanji,” Naoto said, ignoring the jab. “I didn’t ants…amp…anticipate that from you.”

Leg bouncing, Kanji shrugged off his jacket. “Well, I dunno, we’re here anyway, so…might as well try it, yeah? What’s the worst that could happen? Even if I suck, I prob’ly won’t ever see any of these people again. ‘Cept Rise, I guess. But you’ll find somethin’ to make fun’a me for anyway, so whatever.”

“That’s the spirit,” Rise trilled with a wink.

Two or three bouncy pop songs later, a notification flashed onscreen that the song Kanji had chosen was next. Bouncing in her seat, the idol clasped her hands together. “Ooh, get ready! You’re almost up!”

He made a face like he was steeling himself for battle. “Well, here goes nothin’.” Downing the last half of his drink in one go, Kanji stood up, walking awkwardly to the stage and waiting beside it until the current performance ended. When he took his place, he gave a little wave to the room at large and rocked back and forth on his heels while the machine pulled up his music.

Soon enough, the song began with a much more mellow synth rock beat than most that had been chosen before his. Kanji continued to look uncertain, holding the microphone at about chest level. About thirty seconds in, his eyes went wide and he hastily started singing mid-verse, realizing he had missed his cue to begin. His voice was low at first, then too loud, before he settled on a little too quiet again, shifting anxiously.

When the chorus faded out, someone in the crowd gave a cheer of encouragement, causing Kanji to blink in surprise. He glanced around the room and seemed to notice that a few people who were previously engaged in conversations or their phones had taken an interest in this stranger to their usual group. Rise flashed him two thumbs up and the corner of his mouth quirked up. By the time the second verse started, he was visibly more confident, back straightening and expression lightening.

Along with this newfound confidence, he started to sing a little louder, with more emotion – and that was precisely when Naoto and Rise both found themselves doing a double take. While it was clear this wasn’t an activity he engaged in often, his voice was far from unpleasant to listen to. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Naoto couldn’t help but lean in closer, eyebrows disappearing into her bangs. When Kanji’s gaze found her, they watched each other for a moment, and then, without warning, as the chorus kicked in again, his expression shifted to a sly grin and all his inhibitions disappeared.

He became more animated, tapping his foot and moving his hips rhythmically. There was a certain _something_ in his voice that Naoto rarely heard outside of their more private moments, and her stomach suddenly felt as if Sukuna Hikona was doing flips inside it. Kanji’s eyes never left hers as he sang, making it impossible for her to look away even as her face flushed deep scarlet. Rise was trying to ask her a question but Naoto waved her hand aimlessly in the idol’s direction to indicate that she had far more important things to worry about right now. Kanji was running his free hand back through his hair, muscles flexing much more than was necessary for such a task, the hem of his shirt lifting a few inches above the top of his jeans, and Naoto didn’t want anything to distract her from taking in the view. She bit her lip as she leaned farther forward, chin resting on her knuckles, studying his every movement like her life depended on it.

When the song ended, Naoto felt a wave of disappointment, then one of excitement when she realized that meant he was coming back to their couch. There was some scattered applause as he passed the microphone to the next person, noticeably more enthusiastic than the few claps here and there most of the night’s performances had gotten. Kanji practically strutted back across the room to where Naoto and Rise were waiting, lounging one arm around Naoto’s shoulders as he sat down and resting his other hand on her knee. After a moment of silence, he cocked an eyebrow at the dumbfounded looks they were giving him.

“What?” he asked, with the air of someone who knew very well what.

“Since when –” Naoto didn’t notice or care that her voice pitched up as she stabbed Kanji’s chest with an accusatory finger. “You never told me you could…you could do that!”

He shrugged, smiling widely. “I dunno. I just did it. Didn’t really think about, y’know, if I _could_ or not.”

“That wasn’t half bad, Kanji,” Rise said in awe. “It wasn’t even, like, twenty-five percent bad. I bet with a little practice, we could groom you into a pretty good performer. I mean, I know you were only interested in shamelessly flirting with Naoto-kun, but you totally wooed, like, half the room just now, you know.”

“What?” Kanji waved her off with a small laugh. “No way.”

Rise scoffed. “Uh, yeah, did you not notice the way people were watching you when you were up there? Oh, wait,” she interrupted herself, “of course you didn’t. You and Naoto-kun were too busy undressing each other with your eyes.”

Kanji blushed and stammered something unintelligible, but Naoto only nodded slowly. “Well, I can’t blame them if that was the case. Why wouldn’t they have such a reaction to seeing someone so attractive put on such a performance? It’s simply human nature.” Tables suddenly turned, Kanji was left red-faced and flustered at Naoto’s candor.

“You’re not jealous?” Rise asked.

“What do _I_ have to be jealous of? From what you said, everyone here ought to be jealous of _me_. Although…” A devious spark in her eye, Naoto suddenly sat up on her knees and took Kanji’s face in her hands, pulling him close. Voice lowering, she murmured, “we haven’t really given anyone anything to be jealous of yet.”

With that, she closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against his. Kanji grabbed her arms to keep steady, as they both wobbled slightly from the abrupt movement. There was a distinct taste of alcohol on both of their tongues, but neither particularly cared. After a far too brief minute, Kanji extracted himself from the kiss, looking sheepish yet pleased. “Not to gift a look horse…uh, l-look a…” His eyes went unfocused for a moment as he tried and failed to put the phrase together in his less-than-sober state. “Whatever. Not to…do that, but you realize there’s a ton of other people here right now, yeah?”

Rise made a _gag m_ e face. “Yeah, get a room, you two.”

Naoto turned to look at her, eyes wide as if she had just said something brilliant. “Yes, then he can continue to sing without upsetting anyone else for hogging the machine.”

Standing up and collecting the near-empty glasses from their table, Rise groaned. “I can’t decide if you two are adorable or disgusting like this. Maybe both. Either way, I’m cutting you off, Naoto-kun. You’re drunk.”

I am not _drunk_ ,” Naoto insisted, nearly missing the couch as she sat back down. “Perhaps mildly…in-ineb…intox…um…”

“Drunk,” Rise supplied as she wandered off with the glasses. “You two behave, I’ll be right back.”

Huffing indignantly, Naoto leaned back against Kanji’s chest, arms crossed. “Telling us to behave…like we’re children…who does she…what does she think…”

Chuckling, Kanji wrapped his arms around her and nestled her under his chin. “Well, she ain’t wrong about you bein’ adorable.” He kissed the top of Naoto’s head, then her temple, then lightly took the tip of her ear between his teeth. Still feeling mischievous, he started to hum, the same tune he had been singing earlier, as he pressed a series of kisses along the length of her neck. She practically melted into him, a soft sigh of appreciation escaping her lips. As Kanji made it to her collarbone, Naoto lazily turned her head, causing him to look up from his work, and for a long moment they simply stared at each other, faces barely millimeters apart.

By the time Rise returned with two bottles of water intended to help sober the couple up, Naoto was in Kanji’s lap, her fingers tangled in his hair and his arms wrapped around her waist as they kissed, completely oblivious to the room around them. The idol was tempted to break them apart and sit between them to prevent further shenanigans, but on second thought, decided the opportunity for future teasing was just too good to pass up. They had made their bed, after all, now they could – Rise wrinkled her nose. Actually, no. She really, _really_ hoped they didn’t get _that_ idea in their heads right now.

Bemoaning the fact that somewhere along the course of the night, she had become the responsible one, Rise did manage to separate the two long enough to convince them to take the cab she called for them when the night started to wear down. It was no surprise the next morning when she woke up to half a dozen texts from a mortified Naoto that she better not have taken any pictures of them (she didn’t; seeing them suck face in person was bad enough, thank you very much), and one that she would, however, accept video of Kanji’s performance (which was happily forwarded along with a plethora of winking emojis).

When Naoto responded with a simple, “thank you for the invitation,” Rise only smirked. Finally, someone was recognizing her genius. With how well things had gone after just a few drinks and one little song, maybe now she could even convince Naoto to sing next time, which she was absolutely already plotting (Later, Kanji would be the one thanking her for _that_ invitation, and quite profusely at that).

Honestly, Rise asked herself for the millionth time, where would these two be without her?

**Author's Note:**

> Can't Sleep from Walk The Moon's new album made me think of Kanji, which made me think of Kanji singing (he's voiced by Troy Baker and Matthew Mercer, so. Come on.), which made me think of this, so...........you're welcome?


End file.
